Curated playlist
20th-century American historians
- James M. McPhersonHistorian James M. McPherson helped lobby against a Disney theme park near the Manassas battlefield.
- Ezra PoundEzra Pound cut T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land by about half. Eliot called the edits proof of Pound's critical genius.
- John A. GarratyHistorian John A. Garraty let his subject's grandson argue back in the footnotes.
- Charles A. BeardCharles A. Beard argued that money, not philosophy, drove the men who wrote the Constitution.
- Daniel YerginDaniel Yergin started his energy research firm with a two-dollar file cabinet.
- Lynn ThorndikeHistorians still say "early modern" thanks to Lynn Thorndike, who first proposed it in 1926.
- Marshall HodgsonMarshall Hodgson coined "Islamicate" for culture tied to Muslim societies but not religious.
- George Dyson (science historian)From 1972 to 1975, George Dyson lived in a treehouse he built 30 meters above Burrard Inlet.
- C. Vann WoodwardC. Vann Woodward argued that Jim Crow was chosen late, not inherited from Southern tradition.
- John Patrick DigginsHistorian John Patrick Diggins called Ronald Reagan one of the great presidents.
- George SartonGeorge Sarton buried his Civil Guard coat and manuscripts in a Belgian garden in 1914.
- Hannah ArendtHannah Arendt's name is printed on journals, schools, scholarly prizes, humanitarian prizes, think-tanks and street signs. It also appears on stamps and monuments. She was born Johanna Arendt, and she grew into one of the most influential…
- Hans JonasHans Jonas walked back into Germany as a British Army soldier. The Jewish philosopher had fled the country in 1933.
- Allan NevinsIn 1948, historian Allan Nevins started the first institutionalized oral history program in the United States.
- Shelby FooteShelby Foote wrote every page by hand with a nib pen, then typed up a clean copy. He thought of himself first as a novelist. Yet he is remembered for a three-volume history of the American Civil War. He expected that history to take nine…
- George F. KennanGeorge Kennan spent decades disowning the Cold War policy he made famous. Containment, he said, was not military.
- Joan KellyIn 1976, historian Joan Kelly asked: Did women have a Renaissance? Her answer was no.
- Stephen GreenblattStephen Greenblatt was stunned when universities sought experts in "New Historicism," a phrase he coined.
- Victor Davis HansonAfter earning a Stanford PhD, Victor Davis Hanson went home and farmed. He grew orchards and vineyards for four years.
- Claudia GoldinIn October 2023, the economist Claudia Goldin received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for having advanced our understanding of women's labor market outcomes". Only two women had won the award before her. None had ever won…
- Bruce CattonBruce Catton grew up in Michigan listening to Civil War veterans, and their stories shaped his writing.
- E. Merton CoulterHistorian E. Merton Coulter had a grandfather indicted over Ku Klux Klan violence. An all-white jury acquitted him.
- Stephen B. OatesStephen B. Oates asked what it costs a person to fight for equality in America.
- Lewis MumfordLewis Mumford argued the clock, not the steam engine, drove the Industrial Revolution. He never finished college.
- Eric FonerHistorian Eric Foner started college as a physics major. A Civil War seminar at Columbia changed his path.
- Joel WhitburnJoel Whitburn began writing Hot 100 chart positions on index cards in 1958. Later came more than 200 books.
- Hans KohnHans Kohn resigned from a Zionist fundraising body in 1929 with a letter titled "Judaism is Not Zionism."
- Michael RostovtzeffMichael Rostovtzeff saw one empire collapse in Russia, then wondered if Rome fell the same way.